Chick-fil-A Is Paying Its Workers $18 An Hour And I Might Scream

No matter where you live, you have most likely earned minimum wage at some point in your life — maybe even less if you were a server and relied on tips. I’m talking about the lowest amount of money workers can legally be paid, which varies across the U.S. In the last couple years, there has been a movement to increase minimum wage to make life, well, more livable. California is one of the states to really spearhead this mission.

In California, the minimum wage comes to $11.00 an hour as of January 1st, 2018, and will increase each year by $1. In a few years, California’s minimum wage will increase to $15, but a Sacramento Chick-fil-A owner, Eric Mason, has other plans. Current employees are making around $12-$13 an hour and soon they will start to earn $17-$18 an hour. The Washington Post reported that this could be one of the highest fast food wages in the country. If you’ve never been to a Chick-fil-A, it’s a fast food joint that primarily serves chicken sandwiches — and they’re known for their tasty sauce selection (among other things, but we’ll get to that later).

The bump in pay comes from not being able to retain workers. Even teens aren’t applying to the typical fast food summer jobs anymore. According to restaurant research and consultant David Henkes, “We’re seeing a lot of operators that are in that $12 to $15 range, especially in higher-price areas like California, but that’s sort of a new threshold,” he said. “In an era of 3.9 percent unemployment, restaurants — which typically are not seen as the most attractive of jobs — are struggling to not only fill jobs but then retain workers.” 

Mason told KXTV that the pay increase would begin June 4th and discussed the change as a “living wage.”

“As the owner, I’m looking at the big picture and long term,” Mason shared. He added, “What that does for the business is provide consistency, someone that has relationships with our guests, and it’s going to be building a long-term culture.”

Chick-fil-As are individually owned and operated, meaning each restaurant is different. Each facility sets its own wages and benefits, so its unclear whether every single Chick-fil-A location will abide by this new standard. The Washington Post noted that although McDonalds stated it would increase minimum wage by $1 in 2015, not all locations across the U.S. did. Will Chick-fil-A follow through? Only time will tell.

Twitter users are on the fence about raising wages at fast food restaurants.

The minimum wage in California is $11 an hour. Chick fil a in California is paying $17 an hour...goodbye North Carolina

— Bina Baby 🦋🌞 (@binababyy_) May 30, 2018

Chick-fil-A has always been a conversation-starter. In 2012, Chick-fil-A’s COO made some public remarks about his opposition to gay marriage, and the company had been donating to anti-LGBTQ groups. Since 2012, the company has stopped.

However you feel about Chick-fil-A, they’ve certainly started an important conversation about what we should be paying employees so that they can live on their wages. And we’re glad they took the step to actual turn their words in action.